The method and system concerns a method, a device system and a computer program to process a document data stream that comprises structured fields. A typical document data format of this type is the format AFP™ (Advanced Function Presentation). It is in particular used in electronic production printing environments, meaning in data processing and print systems that process the document data with a speed of up to a few thousand pages per minute.
Details of the document data stream AFP™ are specified in the publication Nr. F-544-3884-01, published by the company International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) with the title “AFP Programming Guide and Line Data Reference”. The document data stream AFP was further developed into the document data stream MO:DCA, which is specified in the IBM publication SC31-6802-05 (April 2001) with the title “Mixed Object Document Content Architecture Reference”. Details of this data stream, in particular the use of structured fields, are also specified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,488.
AFP/MO:DCA data streams are frequently converted into data streams of the Intelligent Printer Data Stream™ (IPDS™) in the course of print production jobs. Such a process is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,997.
To select various recording media, in the previously known AFP/IPDS architecture only the number of a feeder bay is specified (“Media Source ID” in the structured field “MMT”) (see, for example, the pages 231-242 in the publication Nr. SC31-6802-05 cited above. With these methods, a physical feeder bay of a print device is selected by a print application but the type of the medium to be printed is not specified, such as, for example, specific pre-printed forms, transparent films, color paper, etc. that should be used for the application. Such fixed applications can only be used for a specific given print system and are dependent on setup adjustments of the print device. The problem thereby also exists that such fixed applications do not produce the expected results when they are sent to a different print system.
In the AFP data stream, what are known as map media type (MMT) structured fields are also provided (see publication Nr. SC31-6802-05 on pages 244-246). With them, it is possible in print applications to specify the print media to be used, respectively characterized by name or type designation. A control software to control a print device then checks which feeder bay in a print device contains the desired recording medium and selects the first coinciding bay for printing. Although this type of selection is already better than the above-cited print media selection referring to bay numbers, there are also limitations for this selection based on media name or media type: with regard to the media, predetermined names must be used in order to be recognized such that no unambiguous association can be made with regard to the media properties such as, for example, size, color or coating.
In the specification UP3I Universal Printer Pre- and PostProcessing Interface, Version 1.00 (October 2001), published by the companies Duplo International Ltd., Hunkeler A G, IBM Corporation [sic], Océ Printing Systems GmbH and Strålfors A B, which can be downloaded as a file at the Internet address www.up3i.org, codings for various features of recording media such as, for example, paper widths and lengths, paper coating specifications (matte, glossy), spec. weight, paper color, etc. can be selected on pages 49 through 54. It is thereby provided that such data can be exchanged between different devices of a print production system, thus, for example, between a paper dispenser device and a print device.
Various print data streams and print systems are, for example, specified in the publication “Das Druckerbuch”, Dr. Gerd Goldmann (publisher), Océ Printing Systems GmbH, 6th edition (May 2001), ISBN 3-00-001019-x. The server system Océ PRISMApro is specified in chapter 14. This flexible print data server system is, for example, suited to transfer print data from data sources such as a source computer—the print data in a specific print data language such as AFP (Advanced Function Presentation), PCL (Printer Command Language), PostScript, SPDS (Siemens Print Data Stream), or in the language LCDS developed by the company Xerox Corporation—to a print production system.
In the specification and further development of print data streams, the problem sometimes exists that new commands must be inserted into the data stream in order to allow for the technical developments of computers, print devices and/or post-processing devices. The determination of such expansions is for the most part a relatively elaborate method in which various industry partners must cooperate in order to agree among one another on the changes or innovations. If new fields are arbitrarily assigned by a user of the data stream, on the one hand the problem exists that these fields cannot be recognized by other devices, and on the other hand that ambiguities occur, given a later common establishment of a similar or even an identical field, that hamper or make entirely impossible the correct processing of the data stream.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,498, it is specified how three new data stream commands, namely WOCC, WOC as well as END are added to the Intelligent Printer Datastream™ (IPDS™).
A further possibility to store additional control data in an AFP data stream is to store data in object containers (see the pages 93-95 in the publication Nr. SC31-6802-05). Ultimately, such auxiliary control data can also be stored in the structured field “No operation” (NOP), which is virtually ignored by standard programs (what are known as parsers) for processing or interpretation of AFP print data streams. However, the previously cited possibilities have the disadvantage that AFP parsers in the interpretation of NOP fields are frequently not in a defined state, whereby interpretation errors can occur.
A method to generate a document data stream that comprises structured fields is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,624 B1.
The publications cited above are herewith incorporated into the present specification by reference.